The Best Cleanser for Your Face

Style + Beauty Editor

The Best Cleanser for Your Face

When it comes to washing your face, grease is the word

-Lois Joy Johnson

A while back in American beauty history, oil-free became the big trend in skin care. Ever since, millions of women shunned what is most probably the best cleanser for your face-oil! But for so long-and mostly out of fear of pimples–women wouldn’t let anything without an “oil-free” label touch their faces. I wasn’t one of them, and here’s why.

As a teen beauty-junkie, I read in Vogue about the mysterious skin-care regimen of Hungarian dermatologist Erno Laszlo (who was then new to New York) and his cult of fans, including Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo Jackie O (and, it is said today, Madonna, Nicole Kidman and Uma Thurman).

He was the first dermatologist with his own brand of medically based products, but the real big deal was his face-washing technique, which called for pre-treating your skin with his special oil and then splashing your face with fairly hot water exactly thirty times! I ran over to Saks Fifth Avenue and used my allowance to get my first Laszlo fix. My friends were convinced I was on the road to blemish hell.

They were wrong, and today I still love Erno Laszlo Active pHelityl Oil and Soap ($39 each, ernolaszlo.com). Strange as it sounds, oil has the ability to break down excess oils on the surface without stripping your skin and helps it to maintain a healthy lipid barrier, which prevents moisture loss. Treating even breakout-prone skin with essential oils is now a hot trend in day spas since many skin-care oils like lavender, grapeseed, rosewood and bergamot are anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial.

Oil-based cleansers are especially great for dry skin, and women who wear water-resistant sunscreens and waterproof makeup. Most work best (and the product’s label will verify) applied to dry skin; the product then turns milky and sudses as you add water. Oil treatments are excellent primers for night creams on dry, sun-damaged, or stressed complexions.